President Lesley Hallick announced at an open forum that a new Junior Varsity and Women’s Rowing Facility would begin construction. The building will stand on Sunset, next to the fields. Construction will begin as soon as the permit process is cleared.
The athletic program expanded with the addition of Women’s Rowing in fall 2014.
It was the eighth athletic program added to the university in the last 14 years. The Junior Varsity programs will continue to grow with the introduction of volleyball and soccer.
The growing JV programs put additional pressure on the already cramped athletic center, which prompted the discussion of a new structure to accommodate them.
“With the addition of these programs we have outgrown our locker-room facilities in the Stoller Center,” Said Director of Athletics, Ken Schumann. “The building will house not only additional locker room space but also an indoor training facility for our Women’s Rowing program and a team meeting space.”
Currently, most of the rowing practices are held ten miles from the main campus at Hagg Lake, where a boathouse was just recently built. The new building will provide them with an area for land drills closer to campus.
“Rowers regularly do land work on machines called ergs as part of their training program,” Schumann said. “This facility will allow these students to have a space to do this work.”
The overall cost is estimated at $900,000 dollars.
The real cost will depend on construction. Schumann said he hopes the new facility will be built and ready by Aug. 1, 2015.
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